This captivating work charts the history of Tasmania from the arrival of European maritime expeditions in the late eighteenth century, through to the modern day. By presenting the perspectives of both Indigenous Tasmanians and British settlers, author Henry Reynolds provides an original and engaging exploration of these first fraught encounters. Utilising key themes to bind his narrative, Reynolds explores how geography created a unique economic and migratory history for Tasmania, quite separate from the mainland experience. He offers an astute analysis of the island's economic and demographic reality, by noting that this facilitated the survival of a rich heritage of colonial architecture unique in Australia, and allowed the resident population to foster a powerful web of kinship. Reynolds' remarkable capacity to empathise with the characters of his chronicle makes this a powerful, engaging and moving account of Tasmania's unique position within Australian history.

Michael Davitt (1846-1906) was a prominent and influential figure in Irish politics in the nineteenth century. A fervent supporter of Irish independence, he was imprisoned more than once in England, but later became a Member of Parliament for Irish constituencies. In this book, first published in 1898, Davitt records a journey of seven months through the Australasian colonies, noting his impressions of the areas he passed through and discussing the political and social norms across the different regions. He examines land laws in many of the areas and describes the different industries then emerging. He also reports on the treatment of aborigines, ranging from 'exterminating the aborigines' in Tasmania to the 'efforts to protect them' in Western Australia, and finally focuses on prisons and prisoner welfare across the colonies he visited. This book offers a wealth of information on many aspects of nineteenth-century Australasia.

A pioneering Australian reference work, this dictionary was published in 1879 by John Henniker Heaton (1848-1914), who in his youth spent twenty years as a journalist in Australia before returning to England and campaigning in Parliament for postal reform. Published amid a bitter dispute with the government printer, it is still acknowledged to contain much useful information despite some inaccuracies. The first part, 'Men of the Time', focuses on notable men and women with Australian connections, from 1542 to the date of publication, including explorers, governors, leading colonists, writers and scientists. The second part, 'The Australian Dictionary of Dates', provides an alphabetical listing of the most remarkable Australian historical events and topics, from Aboriginal cricketers to the Zig Zag railway line, particularly noting political and legal landmarks. Heaton's book is an important document of Victorian colonial historiography and a valuable resource for the history of European settlement in Australia.

In 1852 William Howitt (1792 1879) set sail for Australia with two of his sons in order to try his luck in the goldfields of Victoria. By then he was already a prolifically published author of both prose and verse. He was only moderately successful as a gold-digger, but his account of life in the new colony, published in 1855 after his return to England, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the rapid early growth of Melbourne. Volume 1 covers Howitt's first impressions of Australia, his experiences on the journey to the diggings at Bendigo, the throngs of prospectors, the exorbitant prices charged by profiteering merchants, and the miners' protest over high government licence fees. He describes the hard life endured by the diggers and warns against women coming to the colony.

In 1852 William Howitt (1792 1879) set sail for Australia with two of his sons in order to try his luck in the goldfields of Victoria. By then he was already a prolifically published author of both prose and verse. He was only moderately successful as a gold-digger, but his account of life in the new colony, published in 1855 after his return to England, provides an extraordinary snapshot of the rapid early growth of Melbourne. Volume 2 considers the effects of the influx of a great number of immigrants and the continuing presence of convicts. Howitt also reflects on government policy and the draft constitution, and describes visits to Sydney and Tasmania. His colourful account includes descriptions of birds and flowers, extreme heat, and how to cope with flies.

English-born Thomas Morland Hocken (1836-1910), doctor, historian, and bibliographer, arrived in New Zealand in 1862 after abandoning his career as a ship's surgeon. After establishing a general practice in Dunedin, Hocken began to take a keen interest in the country's recent past. Published in 1898, this book was Hocken's first major work on New Zealand. The book focuses on the history of European settlement in the southern province of Otago in the years preceding the gold rush. Hocken begins with an account of the first pioneers' arrival in New Zealand, and the 'Wakefield Scheme' of assisted passage. The book describes the lives of the founding fathers of Dunedin, the migration of settlers to the area and the establishment of churches, and ends with the discovery of gold. Hocken wrote several other accounts of New Zealand history and was elected Fellow of the Linnean Society for his contribution to botany.

Published in 1892, this two-volume biography chronicles the remarkable life and career of Sir George Grey (1812-98), the 11th premier of New Zealand. William Lee Rees (1836-1912), lawyer, politician and well-known supporter of Grey, co-wrote this work with his daughter Lily, and the books outline how Grey became arguably the most influential figure during the European settlement of New Zealand in the nineteenth century. The volumes proceed chronologically and are organised by the main events in Grey's life. Volume 1 begins with Grey's upbringing and early years, and describes his first voyage to Western Australia, his first government of New Zealand and his time as governor of Cape Colony. In addition to recounting the incidents, adventures and achievements of Grey's life, Rees also conveys Grey's personal principles and aspirations, giving the reader an insight into the character of this colonial governor and servant of the empire.

In 1800-2 the naval officer James Grant (1772-1833) sailed to Australia on board the Lady Nelson, a surveying ship that was the first in England to be built on the sliding-keel principle. In this 1803 publication, Grant assesses the merits of the design and documents various teething problems experienced during the voyage from England to Australia. He describes his stay at Cape Town, and his favourable impression of the living standard of the deported convicts at Sydney, which he found better than that of poor people in England. Grant records his experiences on the coast of New South Wales, his encounters with the Aborigines there, and the presence of coal deposits on the Hunter River, and even reports that the cabra grub is 'no bad apology for a better meal'. He also describes his return journey via Cape Horn, during which he was becalmed in the South Atlantic.

Having decided to try his fortune in the new colonies of South Australia and New Zealand, budding geologist James Coutts Crawford (1817-89) landed at Sydney in 1838 and lost no time in buying and driving a herd of cattle from Braidwood, New South Wales, to Adelaide, a distance of more than three hundred miles of unfamiliar territory. This remarkable journey proved typical of the rest of his travels, during which he served variously as explorer, translator, and sheriff of Wellington. This book, which includes illustrations and maps, is his own record of his experiences, first published in 1880. Even at that time, New Zealand and Australia had changed radically since Crawford's first arrival in the earliest, minimal colonies; today, his account offers not only a fascinating insight into the difficulties and dangers of life there, but a useful source for students and researchers in history and geology.

Joseph Beete Jukes (1811-1869) was a geologist who studied at St John's College, Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) and, after many field expeditions in England, was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland in 1839. In 1841 he joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. He also made some inland investigations on Java before returning to England in 1846. The following year he published this two-volume account of his journey. Blackwood's Magazine described Jukes' work as 'scientific without being abstruse, and picturesque without being extravagant, [Jukes] has made his volumes a striking and graceful addition to our knowledge of countries highly interesting in themselves'. Volume 2 focuses mainly on Java, where Jukes visited sugar and coffee plantations and industrial sites. The appendixes contain vocabulary lists for several indigenous languages, and notes on marine life and snakes.

Best-known for the scandalous circumstances surrounding his suicide in 1893, Francis Adams (1862 1893) enjoyed a reputation as a proficient, if unpredictable, writer producing a large volume of work in his relatively short life. Adams moved to Australia in the early 1880s, remaining there for several years. Finding the news of Australia in England 'inept', Adams wrote from a desire to educate the English public properly on the Australian people. His work, published in 1893, is divided into two parts. The first describes the geography, culture and society of the 'Pacific slope', the ribbon of settlements along the east coast of Australia. The second half, focused on the eastern interior, deals with the more controversial issues of land ownership and the Aboriginal population in the rural areas in the country. Much of the book draws on Adams' series of articles on Australian life, previously published in the Fortnightly Review.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886. He produced the world's first example of national financial accounts, and is regarded as Australia's first 'mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as a New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1918, this monumental book is Coghlan's very personal history of Australia, embracing materials, population growth, trade and land. In Volume 2, covering the period to the late 1860s, Coghlan again highlights population growth, and in particular the role of the state and colonies in organizing immigration, as a key factor in the development of the economy. A theme throughout this volume is the growing independence and confidence of each individual state.

Sir Timothy Coghlan (1855 1926) was the statistician for New South Wales from 1886. He produced the world's first example of national financial accounts, and is regarded as Australia's first 'mandarin'. His advice was sought by state and federal governments on matters as diverse as tax, public sanitation and infant mortality. In 1905 he took up an appointment as a New South Wales government agent in London, remaining there for the rest of his life. First published in 1918, this monumental book is Coghlan's very personal history of Australia, embracing materials, population growth, trade and land. Volume 3 covers a turbulent period. Coghlan examines the depression of the 1890s and the banking crisis of 1893, which saw the Federal Bank fail. He also devotes a large section to detailing labour and wages in this period, which saw the unprecedented Maritime Strike of 1890.

Ernest Scott (1867-1939) emigrated to Australia in 1892, settling in Melbourne where he worked as a journalist. In 1913 he was appointed Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. This volume, first published in 1910, discusses the aims and outcome of the survey of the south Australian coast performed by Nicholas Baudin's French expedition between 1800 and 1804, and established Scott's reputation as a historian. Scott traces the path of Baudin's expedition along the then unexplored south coast of Australia, estimating the amount of original surveying performed by the expedition to address the accusation that the French expedition plagiarised British surveys of the same coastline. Scott also discusses the origins of the expedition to investigate possible political motivations behind the survey. This detailed and meticulously researched volume presents a valuable revised view of Baudin's expedition.

Port Mackay is a district of Queensland, Australia, best known for its production of cane sugar. It was first settled in the 1860s, when John Mackay (1839-1914) successfully completed a mission to claim farmland and introduce agriculture there. First published in 1908, this study by the businessman and keen amateur anthropologist Henry Ling Roth (1855-1925) explores the district's history, tracing its development from an uncharted territory barely noticed by early European explorers to a burgeoning community that profited from its ideal conditions for cultivation. Drawing on extensive notes from his visits to the region over thirty years, as well as some fascinating anecdotal accounts from settlers, Roth explores the achievements of Port Mackay's early colonists in agriculture, industry and sea trading. The book contains maps and photographs, and includes a short account of the local Aboriginal population, and substantial notes on natural history and sporting pursuits.

When George William Rusden (1819-1903) was fourteen, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where he later became a prominent educationalist and civil servant. Already an author of numerous books and pamphlets, he began work on his History of Australia after his retirement, and it was published in 1883 in three volumes. Although the work is considered sympathetic to the Aboriginal people of Australia, it is also infused with Rusden's Tory politics, infuriating his critics - one wrote that the volumes were 'as untrustworthy as a partisan pamphlet well can be without deliberate dishonesty'. Despite initial criticism, these wide-ranging volumes form an important early contribution to the writing of Australian history. Volume 1 begins with the arrival of Europeans in Australia, and then examines each colonial governor, starting with Arthur Philip (1738-1814), who was the first, and ending the volume with Thomas Brisbane (1773-1860) in 1821.

When George William Rusden (1819-1903) was fourteen, his family emigrated from England to Australia, where he later became a prominent educationalist and civil servant. Already an author of numerous books and pamphlets, he began work on his History of Australia after his retirement, and it was published in 1883 in three volumes. Although the work is considered sympathetic to the Aboriginal people of Australia, it is also infused with Rusden's Tory politics, infuriating his critics - one wrote that the volumes were 'as untrustworthy as a partisan pamphlet well can be without deliberate dishonesty'. Despite initial criticism, these wide-ranging volumes form an important early contribution to the writing of Australian history. Volume 2 continues Rusden's examination of earlier governors, starting with Ralph Darling (1772-1858) and ending with George Gipps (1791-1847), before discussing immigration, the end of the practice of transporting prisoners, and the discovery of gold.

John West (1809 1873) was an English-born minister who received a Colonial Missionary Society post in Tasmania in 1838. West became an outspoken opponent of the ongoing government policy of transporting convicts from Britain to Tasmania. Around 1847 a wealthy supporter approached West to write the colony's history, although it had been a British territory only since 1803. West accepted the task and, amid his campaigning and other responsibilities, completed this two-volume work which was published in 1852. It is divided between a straightforward narrative of events and thematic issues such as the treatment of the Aboriginal peoples and the issue of the convict transport system. Volume 1 covers the development of the colony, starting with the arrival of the Dutch in the seventeenth century, who named the island Van Diemen's Land, through to British control and its subsequent settlement as the colony of Tasmania.

Imperial spaces takes two of the most influential minority groups of white settlers in the British Empire - the Irish and the Scots - and explores how they imagined themselves within the landscapes of its farthest reaches, the Australian colonies of Victoria and New South Wales. Using letters and diaries as well as records of collective activities such as committee meetings, parades and dinners, the book examines how the Irish and Scots built new identities as settlers in the unknown spaces of Empire. Utilizing critical geographical theories of 'place' as the site of memory and agency, it considers how Irish and Scots settlers grounded their sense of belonging in the imagined landscapes of south-east Australia. Imperial spaces is relevant to academics and students interested in the history and geography of the British Empire, Australia, Ireland and Scotland. -- .

This is a pathbreaking comparative and trans-national study of the neglected influences of nation, empire and race upon the development and electoral fortunes of the Labour Party in Britain and the Australian Labor Party from their formative years of the 1900s to the elections of 2010. Based upon extensive primary and secondary source-based research in Britain and Australia over several years, it makes a new and original contribution to the fields of labour, imperial and 'British world' history. The book offers the challenging conclusion that the forces of nation, empire and race exerted much greater influence upon Labour politics in both countries than suggested by 'traditionalists' and 'revisionists' alike. The book will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates, scholars in history and politics and all those interested in and concerned with the past, present and future of Labour politics in Britain, Australia and more generally. -- .

This volume of the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations is the first comprehensive study of Australia's role in the peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations that developed at the end of the Cold War. It recounts vital missions including Namibia (1989-90), Iran (1988-90) and Pakistan/Afghanistan (1989-93), and focuses primarily on Australia's reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, including its maritime interception operations, and its controversial participation in the 1991 Gulf War. With exclusive access to Australian Government records and through extensive interviews, David Horner explains the high-level political background to these activities and analyses the conduct of the missions. He brings to life the little-known, yet remarkable stories of many individuals who took part. This is an authoritative and compelling history of how members of the Australian Defence Force engaged with the world at a crucial time in international affairs.

Joseph Beete Jukes (1811-1869) was a geologist who studied at St John's College, Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick (1785-1873) and, after many field expeditions in England, was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland in 1839. In 1841 he joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. He also made some inland investigations on Java before returning to England in 1846. The following year he published this two-volume account of his journey. Blackwood's Magazine described Jukes' work as 'scientific without being abstruse, and picturesque without being extravagant, [Jukes] has made his volumes a striking and graceful addition to our knowledge of countries highly interesting in themselves'. Volume 1 describes Jukes' voyage up the coast of North Queensland, his observations of the Barrier Reef, his exploration of the Torres Strait, and his arrival in the Sunda Islands.

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 1855) was an acclaimed surveyor and explorer of Australia. After attending the University of Edinburgh Mitchell joined the British Army in 1811. He took part in major battles of the Peninsular War and difficult military surveys in the Pyrenees. In 1827 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor of New South Wales, and he became Surveyor General in 1828. This fascinating two-volume work, first published in 1838, contains Mitchell's illustrated account of his three expeditions into the then unexplored interior of modern eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales between 1831 and 1836, for which he received a knighthood in 1839. Drawing on Mitchell's personal journals, Volume 2 describes in vivid detail the difficulties and dangers of exploring the Murray Darling river systems, and provides valuable first-hand descriptions of the lives and society of the indigenous Australians his expedition encountered.

Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 1855) was an acclaimed surveyor and explorer of Australia. After attending the University of Edinburgh Mitchell joined the British Army in 1811. He took part in major battles of the Peninsular War and difficult military surveys in the Pyrenees. In 1827 he was appointed Deputy Surveyor of New South Wales, and he became Surveyor General in 1828. This fascinating two-volume work, first published in 1838, contains Mitchell's illustrated account of his three expeditions into the then unexplored interior of modern eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales between 1831 and 1836, for which he received a knighthood in 1839. Drawing on Mitchell's personal journals, Volume 1 describes in vivid detail the difficulties and dangers of exploring the Kindur and Gwydir rivers, and provides valuable first-hand descriptions of the lives and society of the indigenous Australians his expedition encountered.